Sudbury police warn of new scam targeting out-of-work miners

A new internet scam in Sudbury is preying on people in the mining industry who are looking for work.

At first glance, the website for Red Maple Mining seems real.

It features photos, a company biography, and a list of job descriptions the company is supposedly hiring for in Sudbury. Positions include underground labourers, mining engineers, field technicians, and supervisors.

If you dig a bit deeper there's really nothing attached to it other than they want your personal information.- WadeMaksymchuk, Greater Sudbury Police Service

But Sudbury police saidthe websiteand the company are a scam.

"At first glance it would seem somewhat legitimate," said police officer Wade Maksymchuk, who heads up the force's alternative response unit.

"If you dig a bit deeper, there's really nothing attached to it other than they want your personal information."

The website, which has since been taken down,has an online form asking applicants to include their driver's licence number, social security number, credit card info and more in order to apply for one of the jobs. The website saidthe company needs to charge $9.95 to run a background check.

These are all things a real company would not ask for, Maksymchuk said.

"Any legitimate business would not be doing their business this way.They would be sending out information, [humanresources]would be contacting you. It wouldn't just be a generic site, 'We're looking for people.'"

There are other clues that the company is fake. The only contact is an email address that will bounce back if you try send an email to it.

There are also obvious spelling and grammar errors throughout the website,including a misspelling of "British Columbia" in the "About Us" section.

"In Sudbury, Canada, Red Maple Co's open-pit operation is producing copper and platinum group metals. We also have active partner-funded exploration underway for nickel, copper and PGMs," the website reads.

"Outside Of Sudbury, Maple Mining Co has active exploration for copper and gold in British Colombia [sic] do [sic] to it's current partnerships."

'Preying' on the vulnerable

Maksymchuk said he's never encountered a fake mining company scam before.

He said scammers will go through elaborate efforts, including creating entire websites, to trick people

"It does seem they're beginning to go the extra mile," he said, saying it makes sense a scam like this would pop up now.

"They're preying on the vulnerability of people with the recent costs of nickel going down, people are looking for employment. This looks like a quick fix. A quick opportunity."

Scams are "typically up quick and down just as quick," Maksymchuk said.

Maksymchuk said police believe they detected the scam before anyone was conned, but are asking anyone who might have given their info or know anything about the scam to contact them.